Features

There are three ways to get hold of Opera Mini. The easiest is to direct your current mobile browser to operamini.com and click on the download link to load the application directly on to your handset (it will usually be filed in the Applications folder). Alternatively, visit the website on a PC and click on the SMS link to receive a text message containing a direct link to the software. If for some reason you are beyond the reach of your network and can't access the web on your mobile, you can still download the software to a computer. Click the 'desktop computer' link on the website, select your mobile from the list provided and download the program files. You can then transfer these to your mobile via Bluetooth or USB. Opera Mini is compatible with virtually every mobile phone on the market; there's a full list on the website.

The future

That's everything you need to know about accessing the mobile internet now, but what does the future hold? The speed and convenience

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of mobile data is going to improve dramatically over the next few years. The Far East provides a good indication of what we might expect in the UK, and South Korea already has a next-generation service up and running. Its latest evolution of mobile data is WiBro (short for wireless broadband), a 4G technology similar to WiFi, but with a wider range, higher speeds and greater mobility. In Seoul, this operates over a wide area, providing data access while the user is moving at high speeds of up to 120km/h, such as on a train or car journey. Most people use the service on notebook PCs but LG has already launched a smartphone that runs on the network. In the UK a similar system called mobile WiMAX is being developed, although this it could be some time before it's rolled out to consumers.

In terms of handsets, we're sure to see increasingly powerful internet-ready devices, notably the WiFi-enabled Apple iPhone, which should be on sale by the time you read this. It features a built-in Safari web browser with a touch-screen interface that lets you scroll around and zoom into web pages by pinching the display with your fingers. When you hold the phone horizontally, the screen automatically flips to landscape viewing mode. With an impressive-looking Google Maps application, desktop-style Widgets and a YouTube player, this device could revolutionise the way we use websites on the move. The other manufacturers are sure to respond, and Nokia has already revealed plans for its own touch-screen interface due in 2008. Whichever way you look at it, the future is rosy for the mobile web.